Madison Bumgarner: 2012 NL Cy Young candidate

While looking through a list of top young major leaguers and prospects, some names stand out. Pitchers such as Matt Moore, Jacob Turner, Michael Pineda and Julio Teheran will soon be mentioned among the top aces in the game of baseball and be expected to compete year-in, year-out for pitching awards. For now, though, they have little big-league experience and will likely experience growing pains the next few years before reaching their peak.

There is, however, a young hurler I can foresee making a big impact in the 2012 NL Cy Young Award balloting, as long as his equally-talented teammates don’t overshadow him. Yes, call me biased, but I am referring to big lefty Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants.

“MadBum”, as he is affectionately called by the fans, was a top prospect coming out of high school in North Carolina. At 20 years of age he got a taste of the majors and succeeded, and the black and orange faithful were looking forward to many years of strong pitching with him joining Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain at the top of the rotation. But, unbeknownst to many, his sizzling fastball had lost some steam.

Bumgarner started 2010 the same way and got lit up in a few starts at AAA Fresno, but he fixed a problem in his mechanics and was an integral part to the Giants’ run to the World Series title, including eight shutout innings in game four against the Texas Rangers.

Things were looking up for Bumgarner at the beginning of 2011, but his first few starts foretold a possible sophomore slump. He finally figured things out, though, and had a great season despite a few hiccups throughout the season. While he wasn’t considered a serious contender for Cy Young, he did earn a vote. Bumgarner had a great ERA (3.21) despite a fluke outing where he gave up eight earned runs and got one out (and if you remove that game from his stats, his ERA plummets to 2.86). He averaged nearly a strikeout per inning and walked just two batters per nine innings.

The big lefty’s final 10 starts of 2011 are what have me very excited for the upcoming season. At a time when most pitchers are faltering because of fatigue, MadBum was at his best. He had double-digit strikeouts three times in that stretch, including a career-high 13 in one outing. He K’d nearly five batters for every one walk and allowed and suppressed hits much better than his overall season, with more than a hit less per nine innings.

Entering 2012, Bumgarner has many things going his way. Quite honestly, I think he will continue improving and put up full-season statistics along the lines of those final 10 starts. If he can figure out his annual beginning-of-the-season problems, he could have an outstanding season and not only be in the discussion but win the NL Cy Young Award.

Flying Squirrels make pair of deals

Just before the pre-draft trade deadline, the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels made a pair of trades to improve the future of the franchise.

First, the club finalized the long-rumored trade of Carlos Pena to Pottsylvania. Originally the Squirrels were planning on getting an established relief pitcher back, but in the 11th hour the Creepers offered two top young arms, RHP Kyle Gibson and LHP James Paxton, for the first baseman.

And, literally one minute before the deadline, GM Jack Zduriencik swapped one young player coming off a down season, C Chris Iannetta, to the Madtown Murlocs for another, LHP Francisco Liriano.

"Coming into the draft we looked at our farm system and determined we were a little short on future impact talent," Zduriencik said. "So we identified our strengths, catcher and first base, and traded our backups from those positions for very talented young players. Pena and Iannetta weren't going to see much playing time behind Albert Pujols and Victor Martinez, respectively, so we determined they were tradeable.

"We are very excited about bringing these three dynamic arms into our system. We already have one of the top young rotations in the league (with an average age of 25), and this ensures our rotation will continue to be top-notch, young and cheap many years into the future."

In other news, the Flying Squirrels were forced to cut ties with longtime closer Joe Nathan. Amid news of Nathan's impending Tommy John surgery, the Squirrel front office decided they couldn't hold onto him and his salary while he was on the sidelines.

"We wish Joe the best," owner Andrew Haynes said. "We hope his recovery goes well and that he returns to his old self next year. If that is the case, we might look at bringing him back."

Nathan is a career Squirrel. He was drafted by the team in the 6th round in 2004 and pitched for the team until 2009. He became the full-time closer in 2005 and saved 145 games in his six years with the club, the best mark in the league. Joakim Soria is expected to take over as the closer.

Richmond selects Flying Squirrels!

Today, it was announced the new Richmond, VA, AA Eastern League baseball team would be named the Flying Squirrels.

http://www.richmondprobaseball.com/cgi-bin/dist/news.cgi?id=1255635998

They are in the process of designing a logo and getting ready for next season. I think this is the first time a professional team has taken the name of a BARB team. This is sweet!

Vote for the Richmond Flying Squirrels!

The San Francisco Giants' AA team recently moved from Connecticut to Richmond, VA. They are having a Name the Team contest, and one of the 6 finalists is Flying Squirrels! Go and vote here:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/baseball/name-the-team/

Squirrels pick up Lind, Reyes, Frasor

The Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels, dormant in the trade market for much of the season, have made a deal to improve their offense as well as picking up a curiously unsigned free agent pitcher to help their bullpen.

In the deal made in the wee hours of Friday morning, the Squirrels sent RHPs Carlos Marmol and Ben Sheets, as well as a PTBN, to the Pottsylvania Creepers for OF Adam Lind and injured SS Jose Reyes. In the aftermath, they signed free agent RHP Jason Frasor.

Insiders say this deal was made when a proposed three-way trade including one other team fell through because of a player's no-trade clause. A more high-profile trade between the Squirrels and Creepers was also briefly discussed before they settled upon the current agreement.

"It was tough to give up Marmol," said Squirrels GM Jack Zduriencik. "But when we had the opportunity to acquire a young, talented player such as Lind we had to do it. We feel our relief pitching is still very good, especially with us signing Jason Frasor for the rest of the season."

Lind, who was still in AAA with the Creepers organization, will get a chance to contribute immediately with the defending-B.A.R.B. champion Flying Squirrels, with Carlos Beltran expected to be out for a while and Corey Hart experiencing mysterious stomach pains. Lind is a left-handed power hitting outfielder, something the Frostbite Falls lineup is missing.

Rumor had it the deal might not have been completed until much later had there not been a free agent pitcher the Frostbite Falls front office liked enough to replace Marmol.

The acquisition of Reyes and trade of Sheets was seen as exchanging two players in very similar situations. The Squirrels had picked up Sheets early in the season in hopes he would make it back during the second half and improve the rotation. It soon became apparent he would be out until 2010, however, so the team lost interest and looked to shed his salary. The Creepers had grown tired of waiting for Reyes to come back and made the decision that their current players could cover the middle infield well.

Frostbite Falls Assistant GM Andrew Friedman explained the club was expecting Reyes to miss the remainder of 2009 but be healthy and ready to contribute with his original club by spring 2010.

Reyes was originally drafted by Frostbite Falls' pre-cursor, the Santa Barbara Storm, in 2003, and he played 10 games that season for the inaugural B.A.R.B. champions before being selected in the expansion draft in 2004.

If Reyes returns healthy in 2010, it will give the Squirrels possibly the best infield in B.A.R.B, with Albert Pujols, Michael Young, Reyes and Evan Longoria.

Squirrels greatly improve rotation

The Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels have agreed to a trade to bring young pitcher Matt Garza back into the fold. Garza was a Squirrel once before, when he was acquired before the 2008 season. Garza never threw a pitch in a Squirrels uniform, though, as he was traded along with Delmon Young just before the draft for draft pick considerations.

The Squirrels had to give up talent to get talent, however, and the talent they gave up to Texas was another young RHP, Rick Porcello. They will send a player to the Tornadoes after the season to complete the deal. Porcello, just called up to the big club in Minnesota, was visibly upset at not having had a chance to take the mound for the Squirrels before being traded. "I've been with that general manager before, and he didn't want me. He basically threw me in to a trade that sent me here. I guess I can say I wore the uniform of the best team in BARB history for a day, though."

The Squirrels front office was ecstatic.

"We felt Armando Galarraga was getting lit up too much, so we wanted to make a change," said Frostbite GM Jack Zduriencik. "We called up Porcello to take his place, but then Trader Ron approached us with a possibility and we couldn't pass it up. We feel this makes our rotation the best in the league. With Timmy, Hamels, King Felix, Garza and Paul Maholm, I don't know why we keep losing, but with our talent there's no way it should be happening."

"We are certainly disappointed to lose a guy as talented as Porcello," said Assistant GM Andrew Friedman. "But we didn't think he'd do well this season. He doesn't strike out enough batters right now to survive in this league. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors, and maybe once he gets some experience we'll bring him back."

The Squirrels might still be in the market for a hitter, but there aren't even rumors about who they might be trying to acquire.

Lincecum wins Cy Young Award!

Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels ace Tim Lincecum, 24, was named the National League Cy Young award winner today for the 2008 season. Lincecum received 23 of the 32 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and one third-place nod for a total of 137 points to easily best second-place Brandon Webb (73 points) and Johan Santana (55).

Lincecum finished first in the NL in winning percentage with an 18-5 record and led the majors in strikeouts. He had a 2.62 ERA that could have been better if not for some fishy scoring in his second-to-last game of the season.

"We are very excited for Tim," said Frostbite Falls owner Andrew Haynes. "He proved that he was the NL's best pitcher this season. No one was anywhere close to his dominance. We are very pleased to have him as a cornerstone of our franchise for many years."

"My reaction was, 'Woohoo!'," exclaimed Lincecum.